Furry New Friends

I've lived in the desert almost all my life, so I'm used to the local creepy crawlies. However, our new house is right on the edge of a big wash and pretty much the end of major civilization for the Phoenix area. Apparently, the old prospectors up in these parts let their donkey buddies go when they were done and now there is a herd of wild donkeys that roam the wash and can be heard to bray on quiet nights. We also have a few new critters around our house. We found the remains of a baby tarantula on the driveway. Momma and siblings have not turned up. They are welcome to hang around and gorge on the plethora of crickets, so long as they stay outside and keep to themselves. Rosie has a thing for bugs. She likes to get up close and watch them, which is fine for ants and crickets, but not so good for the more exotic desert species. Yesterday, Gracie was outside and hollered for me. Something big was crawling around in our lovely backyard full of inviting rocks. Too slow to be a lizard, it didn't seem like a mouse, it was a huge scorpion! I'm used to the common bark scorpion, the scourge of Arizonans' feet, but this was huge. It's official name is the Giant Hairy Desert Scorpion. How true. I think it eats bark scorpions, so it's family members (the actual scorpion died ignominiously at my hands, I'm afraid to say) are welcome to pick a far corner and eat up the more dangerous bark scorpions. Just don't show your hairy little pinchers.